The good news is more young people are coming to our concerts.The bad news is most of them rarely look up from their phones and hand-held devices.

It saddens me to look out at them from the bandstand, to see them there in the audience, sitting in the darkness,looking not to the stage but downward, their expressionless faces illuminated by cold blue light.

I want so badly for them to experience—truly and without distraction—the gift of a soulfully crafted melody.

I want to share with them the thing I love most: the pure emotional power of instrumental music,without the need for lyrics, explication or visual spectacle.